Christie Can’t Guarantee Political Retribution Limited To Bridge Scandal

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie speaks during a news conference Thursday, Jan. 9, 2014, at the Statehouse in Trenton, N.J. Christie has fired a top aide who engineered political payback against a town mayor, saying sh... New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie speaks during a news conference Thursday, Jan. 9, 2014, at the Statehouse in Trenton, N.J. Christie has fired a top aide who engineered political payback against a town mayor, saying she lied. Deputy Chief of Staff Bridget Anne Kelly is the latest casualty in a widening scandal that threatens to upend Christie's second term and likely run for president in 2016. Documents show she arranged traffic jams to punish the mayor, who didn't endorse Christie for re-election. (AP Photo/Mel Evans) MORE LESS
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New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) said Thursday that he can’t guarantee lane closures on the George Washington Bridge were the only acts of political retribution carried out by his aides.

Responding to a reporter who asked whether he is “confident” the revenge tactic didn’t go beyond the lane closures, Christie said he wouldn’t guarantee that, based on his experience fielding the bridge scandal over the past few months.

“I don’t have any evidence before me as we speak that it went beyond this incident, but I can’t tell you that I know that for sure as to every aspect of everything,” he said in a press conference. “Now I have to be much more circumspect to that. Prior to yesterday, I believed that if I looked someone in the eye who I worked with and trusted, and asked them, that I would get an honest answer. Maybe that was naive, but that’s what I believed. So now I’m going and digging in and asking more questions, but I can’t make a warranty on that.”

“I won’t,” he added. “When I did that four weeks ago, I wound up being wrong.”

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